A TWEET about people battling terminal illnesses from the Deputy Prime Minister has been criticised as “abhorrent” and “tone deaf" .
Angela Rayner has been called out for using an “appalling” hashtag alongside a post on social media where she announced that the UK Government has pledged more support for those diagnosed with a terminal illness.
The Labour MP said in the post that no one battling terminal illness “should have to face extra stress and worry over their job security”.
She added: “It's vital that employees with a terminal diagnosis are treated sensitively and with the best support – that’s why I’m so proud we are backing this charter”.
Rayner concluded the tweet with the hashtag “DyingToWork”.
No one battling terminal illness should have to face extra stress and worry over their job security. It's vital that employees with a terminal diagnosis are treated sensitively and with the best support – that’s why I’m so proud we are backing this charter.#DyingToWork pic.twitter.com/X6j0fUVaeF
— Angela Rayner (@AngelaRayner) June 27, 2025
Since she posted the tweet on Friday, thousands of people have flooded the comments section to highlight how the post is “tone deaf” and “disgusting” with the use of the hashtag.
Dying to Work is the wider campaign name of the movement, which aims to raise awareness of the important steps that can be taken to provide employees with dignity and peace of mind as they navigate a terminal diagnosis while still in work.
The picture and post by Rayner is in reference to her signing the Dying to Work Charter, but the tweet has been accused of lacking clear context and still being in “bad taste” with the UK Government set to announce cuts to the welfare system next week.
SNP councillor Lauren Oxley first retweeted Rayner’s post along with the comment: “Whoever gave that hashtag the thumbs up needs fired, abhorrent.”
Once more context was provided by commenters to Oxley, she added that despite the hashtag making more sense, it was still “out of touch”.
She wrote: “This makes more sense, but it still feels very out of touch to post just days before her government are set to impose some of the most severe cuts to disability and sickness-related payments in over a decade.”
In response to Rayner’s post another person wrote: “It would have been prudent to include more details about the charter you are supporting because otherwise, that hashtag seems very misjudged in the current climate.”
While another person replied “There is no world in which that was a good choice of hashtag.”
Rayner’s post comes after the UK Government said it would U-turn on some of its plans for its Universal Credit and Personal Independence Payment Bill, with the initial proposal cutting back disability benefit payments by around £5 billion per year.
The UK Government was forced into a partial U-turn on its welfare reform bill after more than 120 party MPs threatened to rebel against the Government in a vote next week.
As part of the concessions, people who currently receive Personal Independence Payments (Pip), or the health element of Universal Credit, will continue to do so.
But planned cuts to these payments will still hit future claimants, with the fresh package of measures now being branded as a “two-tier system” that will see the “young treated worse than the old”.
The new plan still keeps in place proposals to change the eligibility criteria for PIP for future claimants.
